Process of making shoes with safety box toes



Oct. -14, 1947., HQWWRRAY 2,428,938

PROCESS OF MAKING SHOES WITH SAFETY BOX TOES Filed Sept. 21, 1945 I NV EN TOR.

Patented Oct. 14, 19 47 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PROCESS OF MAKING sHoEs WITH SAFETY BOX TOES Harry G. McMurray, Wakefield, Mass}; assignoi" to Safety Box Toe Company; Holli's'toii, Mass a corporation of Massachusetts- Application September 21, 1945 Serial- N o. 617,7(3

This invention comprises an improved process of manufacturing a safety shoe having greater strength and better shoe-making characteristics than have been found heretofore in shoes of this type, by a series of steps which facilitate the shoe' makin'g operations in general and avoid difficulties whichhave been heretofore encountered in manufacturing shoes of this special type. For example, the welt sewer has heretofore experienced a great deal ofdifiiculty in breaking needles by striking the steel box toe. By the process of my invention this difficulty is substantially if not entirely avoided.

-The strength of the steel box toe depends largely upon its having an adequate tie or strut in the shoe bottom between its curved. sides. Heret-ofore the provision of a tie has caused objectiohable bulk in the shoe bottom, interfering to some extent With the flexing of the shoe and making dif licult the necessary shoemaking operations. These difficulties are avoided in accordance with the present invention by forming a metal box toe with a thin sheet steel tie.

I employ a regular leather welt insole of from six to seven irons thickness, channeled and stockfitted in the conventional manner to present a lower surface having an upstanding sewing rib and canvas reinforcing. The insole, except at the toe, is cut to fitthecontour of alast bottom, but the toe portion is formed to extend beyond :the end of the last-by an amount substantially equal to the thickness of the metal box toe with which the shoe is to be assembled. The toe por- ;tion of the insole is split to form two plies, layers, tor sections of which the upper is smooth and :flat, while the lower carries the usual sewing rib and reinforcing canvas. The length of the upper :section is reduced to correspond with the length .of the last employed, with the result that the lower section extends slightly beyond the end .of the upper section.

The insole is now tacked to the last bottom in ithe conventional manner; the upper is then as- ;sembled on the last, pulled over, staple side lasted, :and heel seat lasted, all in accordance with :methods ordinarily employed and exactly as if .no metal box toe were to be used. I

After the heel seat lasting operation, the pull- ;iing over tacks at the tip of the shoe are removed 'to release the toe portion of the upper and lining, if a lining is used, so that they may be pulled back to expose the tip of the last. The operator ,may now fold back the lower section of the split insole to expose the smooth flat upper section and then place the metal box toe in position upon the toe of the last but between the lining and the upper. That is to say, thebox toe wipes in the lining over the upper insole section and holds it in place. The lower insole section is then turne back over the base flange and the tie of the metal box toe and secured. The next operation is to 1ast the toe in conventional manner and proceed with normal shoemaking operations, The box toe is thus incorporated in the structure of the shoe without in any way inter fe'ring the making of the shoe. The sewing rib and insole edge at the we are so disposed with respect to the metal box toe that there is no danger of breaking welting needles.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred manner in which it maybe carried out, selected for pur poses of illustration and shown in the accompanyi'ng drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a View in perspective of an insole prepared in accordance with my invention,

Fig; 2' is a fragmentary view in perspective showing the upper and lining in pulled over condition on the last,

Fig". 3-is'v a view in perspectiveof a metal box toe,

Fig. his a fragmentary view in perspective showing the metal box toe placed upon the last;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary View in longitudinal cross 'section of the toe portion of the lasted shoe, and

Fig. dis a corresponding fragmentary view in perspective.

The first step in the hovel process of my invention consists inpreparing an insole of the type shown in Fig. 1. As herein shown, but not necessarily, l employ a full length leather insole l0 rounded or died out to conventional contour but so patterned that the edge of the toe portion will extend about e beyond the edge of the last to be employed in making the shoe. I now split in from the toe end of the insole l0 approximately to the tip line, the splitting operation forming the toe portion of the insole into two superposed sections or layers 13 and Hi. The section I4 on the top of the insole I0 is to lie against the last bottom, and the next operation is to trim the toe edge of the section i4 until it coincides with the dimensions of the last, in normal fashion. The lower section I3 is not trimmed and therefore extends about beyond the section I4 and the top of the last.

The insole Ill is then stock-fitted in the normal manner for welt insoles. That is to say, a channel is formed along its edge and a flap turned up to form an upstanding sewing ri-b H. The inner face of the rib and the surface of the insole within the rib H is then covered with a ply i2 of gem duck or other suitable reinforcing material. The insole is now ready to be used. in assembling the shoe.

The next operation is to tack the insole ID to g ventional methods and equipment. The fact that r the insole section 13 extends beyond the tip of; the last [5 in no way interferes with pulling-over or lasting. It may be noted at this point that the tip of the upper section I4 is to be enclosed Within the metal box toe and that the section M- of the insole is made shorter than the complete ribbed section l3 in order to compensate for the thickness of the box toe and to bring the tip surface of the metal box toe into registration with the end of the ribbed tip section I3.

The pulling over tacks are now removed, the upper I6 is turned back from the top of the last, and the ribbed section I3 is folded back to expose the inner surface of the upper section M. The lining 9 is transversely slashed opposite the rear end of the box toe so that the tip portion may be brought inside the box. Subsequently the metal box toe I8 is placed upon the toe of the last over the lining 9 and encloses the lining and the tip end of the ply M, as suggested in Fig. 4.

In Fig. 3 is shown a metal box toe of sheet steel comprising a dome shaped portion I8 merging into an inturned base flange l9, the rear ends of this box toe is placed upon the toe of the last E5, the lining 9 is wiped or gatheredin by hand over the surface of the upper section I4 and confined between the insole and the base flange [9 of the box toe.

After the box toe has been placed firmly in position upon the toe of the last as shown in Fig. 4, the insole section I3 is restored to its original position covering the metal box toe beneath it.

referably the section I3 is cemented down. The upper I 6 may be wiped into place in a bed lasting machine or toe lasting may be accomplished in any desired manner, the upper being brought to the rib H and secured in place, for example, by staples as shown in Fig. 6, or by anchor tacks and toe wire. When the section I3 is replaced it will be understood that its outer peripheral contour 4 coincides at the tip with the peripheral contour of the metal box toe, the latter being gauged in this position by the short tip of the smooth inner section M of the insole I0. 4

The shoe may now be completed by the conventional shoemaking operations exacgly as if it contained no metal box toe. The thickness of the enclosed metal is approximately the same as that of heavy box toe material used in work shoes, and its presence is no more conspicuous in the tip of the finished shoe. The upper l6 may be sewn with the welt to the rib H and the outsole layed and stitched, if the shoe is to be a welt shoe. McKay or Compo shoes may be manufactured in generalas above described, and in those cases the rib H of the outer insole section will be eliminated. The essential characteristic of my improvement is the employment of a split insole,

andany of the standard shoemaking processes may be carried out in this manner without being otherwise modified from conventional procedure.

It will be seen that I have thus made available a new and improved process of making work shoes or other shoes having incorporated therein the safety feature of a metal box toe, accurately placed and securely incorporated in the shoe structure, all without requiring shoemakin operations which in any way interfere with the conventional stock fitting or making processes now conventionally followed.

'In my copending application Ser. No. 567,403, filed December 9, 1944, I have disclosed an alternative procedure for carrying out the broad process of my invention'and have included in that application a generic claim covering the process as herein disclosed.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail a preferred embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

* the outer section, folding back the outer section of the toe portion, placing a metal box toe having REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of thispatent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date McMurray et al Apr. 10, 1934 Number 

